TTA Celebrates USA 250! Midjourney’s body scanner promises a revolution and Butterfly a future? Hype or reality? And more!

July 2, 2026 | by

2 -6 July 2026

An early close for a very big holiday this weekend–the 250th anniversary of United States Independence, a/k/a The Rebel Colonials Serving It Up Hot To King George III. And the UK and Europe returned this weekend’s 100 degree F temps (38 C) as a present…

Speaking of presents…our one story this week is a very deep dive into Midjourney Medical’s ‘magical’ whole-body scanner and the Butterfly Network ultrasound chips powering it. The Midjourney agreement is a substantial present to a once-promising POCUS company that was almost KO’d by the Devil of Demise after a cracked SPAC. Is it a future that Butterfly can bet on, or just another bridge to cross?

Set off fireworks (safely), drink up like a colonial, and stay cool!

Please feel free to comment on the articles and pass along this Alert. Let me know if this is worth it to you! Also check out my personal page on Substack.

Midjourney Medical audaciously promises a revolution in whole-body scanning, powered by Butterfly Network chips. Can the reality ever match the hype?

Last Week’s Headlines, from Cargo Culture to OpenEvidence   

Chutes & Ladders: Xsolis data breach affects 1.4M records, Five Eyes warns of AI-supercharged hacking; FDA closes Whoop BP warning, Centene adds HR/finance exec to board; $120M raises for Assort Health, $46M for xCures

Vinegary Must Reads This Week: Silicon Valley’s ‘Cargo Culture’; the clinical query tool explosion between OpenEvidence and general AI

Short takes: Bain report on anemic AI ROI, SVB report on women’s health, Ladder Health pedes virtual health raises $7M, an update on the Luigi Mangione trial

Amazon’s One Medical Seniors hacked by ShinyHunters, issues “final warning” on 8.8 TB of patient data

News roundup: Validic bought by ChartSpan; raises for Cadence, Prosper AI, Telepatia; Epic MyChart portal messages doubled in 5 years–study    

Perspectives: The most aggressive AI adoption in healthcare is happening off the books

Catch up with these if you haven’t

Chutes, and chutes: Microsoft’s $3B Oracle cloud leasing deal goes sideways, Defense Health Agency to replace Leidos as system integrator for MHS’ EHR, Centene offering voluntary buyouts to most employees

Tuesday 23 June–UKTelehealthcare webinar/virtual event: Keeping People at Home, Supported by Technology (this is now available on video–check the UKTelehealthcare website and LinkedIn)

Perspectives: Virtual Care, AI, and the Future of Autism Therapy

 * * *
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Support not only a publication but also a well-informed international community.

Contact Editor Donna for more information.

Help Spread the News

Please tell your colleagues about this free news service and, if you have relevant information to share with the rest of the world, please let me know!

Donna Cusano, Editor In Chief
donna.cusano@telecareaware.com

Telehealth & Telecare Aware – covering news on latest developments in telecare, telehealth and eHealth, worldwide.

TTA’s Here Comes Summer: two data breaches and a warning, six raises, Validic bought, Silicon Valley’s ‘Cargo Culture’, OpenEvidence scored in study, ‘off the books’ AI in healthcare, more!

June 26, 2026 | by

 

Friday 26 June 2026

Summer started and the doldrums lifted. We have not one but two data breaches with a big warning from Five Eyes that AI-powered breaches are coming. Six raises from seed to Series C–including in Brazil–and Validic after many years is bought. But scrutiny is piling on AI and AI clinical tools, from the economics to Silicon Valley ‘Cargo Culture’ to OpenEvidence’s performance to ‘off the books’ AI in healthcare. We also touch on the current status of the Luigi Mangione NY State trial, 18 months after the murder of UHC’s Brian Thompson.

Please feel free to comment on the articles and pass along this Alert. Let me know if this is worth it to you! Also check out my personal page on Substack.

Chutes & Ladders: Xsolis data breach affects 1.4M records, Five Eyes warns of AI-supercharged hacking; FDA closes Whoop BP warning, Centene adds HR/finance exec to board; $120M raises for Assort Health, $46M for xCures

Vinegary Must Reads This Week: Silicon Valley’s ‘Cargo Culture’; the clinical query tool explosion between OpenEvidence and general AI

Short takes: Bain report on anemic AI ROI, SVB report on women’s health, Ladder Health pedes virtual health raises $7M, an update on the Luigi Mangione trial

Amazon’s One Medical Seniors hacked by ShinyHunters, issues “final warning” on 8.8 TB of patient data

News roundup: Validic bought by ChartSpan; raises for Cadence, Prosper AI, Telepatia; Epic MyChart portal messages doubled in 5 years–study    

Perspectives: The most aggressive AI adoption in healthcare is happening off the books

Last Week’s Headlines

Chutes, and chutes: Microsoft’s $3B Oracle cloud leasing deal goes sideways, Defense Health Agency to replace Leidos as system integrator for MHS’ EHR, Centene offering voluntary buyouts to most employees

Tuesday 23 June–UKTelehealthcare webinar/virtual event: Keeping People at Home, Supported by Technology (this is now available on video–check the UKTelehealthcare website and LinkedIn)

Perspectives: Virtual Care, AI, and the Future of Autism Therapy

 * * *
Advertise on Telehealth and Telecare Aware
Support not only a publication but also a well-informed international community.

Contact Editor Donna for more information.

Help Spread the News

Please tell your colleagues about this free news service and, if you have relevant information to share with the rest of the world, please let me know!

Donna Cusano, Editor In Chief
donna.cusano@telecareaware.com

Short takes: Bain report on anemic AI ROI, SVB report on women’s health, Ladder Health pedes virtual health raises $7M, an update on the Luigi Mangione trial

June 25, 2026 | by

Bain and Company dug into the Big Question surrounding AI–is there any real ROI there? How can companies get there? Their ‘to date’ results are not exactly stellar.

  • Nearly 40% of companies that measured AI cost savings landed below 10%. Another 29% achieved 11-20%. Neither are huge savings.
  • Yet 90% of companies are increasing their AI budgets, again. How they’re funding it? 44% of companies are funding it from prior automation savings that have consistently come in below target.
  • The operating reality is far more human, with only 7% of companies running fully autonomous agents in production today.
  • Data access and integration are the number one barriers to AI progress

Despite all this, Bain (of course) states that companies shouldn’t wait, that they need to close the gap between the business case and the operating reality. Their conclusions sound sensible, but to this Editor, they won’t necessarily bend the cost savings curve. And they sound like expensive, time-consuming work, further reducing initial cost savings:

  1. Pay down your workflow debt before deploying AI. Fix that before you automate it because it will be far more difficult afterwards.
  2. Validate the investment case and name a governance owner before programs launch.
  3. Use AI to solve the data problem; don’t wait for the data problem to be solved first. Automate one high-value, repeatable workflow and replace it with AI.
  4. Redesign the operating model, not just the process.
  5. Measure outcomes at the enterprise level, not the program level. Leaders must decide that they have a personal responsibility to create the organizational conditions for AI success. 

Your AI Budget Is Growing. Your Returns Aren’t. Here’s Why.

Our second report is on innovation in the women’s health sector. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) examines trends in the venture-backed women’s health sector, which has grown into the full spectrum of women’s health needs. The sector is (finally) starting to thrive. Highlights:

  • $2 billion in venture capital was invested in women’s health in 2025. While this marked a dip from 2024’s peak, projections show a rebound in both deal volume and total funding for 2026.
  • $6.2 billion since 2019 has been invested into companies addressing women-specific conditions. 210 new startups dedicated to solving women-specific health challenges were launched from 2019 through 2025. 
  • The median pre-money valuation for AI-enabled women’s health companies is up to $35 million.
  • Women’s health startups using AI to personalize care are commanding valuations triple those of their non-AI counterparts.

The downloadable SVB report is here.

One of those women-founded companies, Ladder Health. announced seed funding of $7 million this week. The seed round was (happily) oversubscribed and led by Nina Capital, with participation from Mairs & Power Venture Capital, South Dakota First Capital, and incubating partner 25madison Health. Other investors in this round include Hatteras Venture Partners, Create Health Ventures, Jumpstart Capital, White Oak Enterprises, Groove Capital, and 7Rock Ventures. (Whew!) Ladder Health delivers speech, occupational, physical and feeding therapy through a virtual-first, AI-enabled platform available evenings and weekends. Their service is targeted to areas where pediatricians and developmental therapies are in short supply, wait lists are long, and to underserved Medicaid beneficiaries. It is currently available in three states, North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Maryland across 80 providers. The additional financing will support expansion in those states and others, as well as investment in the care platform. Ladder is based in NYC. It was developed in conjunction with clinical experts at Boston Children’s Hospital. Release, MedCity News

And lest we forget. Luigi Mangione, the accused murderer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on the dark morning of 4 December 2024, is still in the preliminaries of his New York State trial for intentional second-degree murder. His defense team from Agnifilo Intrater had filed to use a psychiatric defense based on Mangione suffering from an “extreme emotional disturbance” (EED), but that was withdrawn one day after it had been filed with Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro. It was a surprising development, as the admission could have reduced the charges to manslaughter, though it is tantamount to admitting the crime.

Based on reports, Mangione may be able to introduce EED through his own testimony, or that of the prosecution. Much of the evidence found in his backpack when Mangione was picked up at the Altoona, Pennsylvania, McDonald’s was excluded from the NYS trial, as well as two charges of terrorism and first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty to state murder and weapons charges.

Mangione’s trial is scheduled to start on 8 September. He faces additional trials in the Federal Southern District of NY as well as Pennsylvania state charges. Law.com discusses the EED strategy. CNN, Beckers

News roundup: 9 additional VA centers named for Oracle 2026 EHR rollout; ATA Action acquiring, expanding with DTA; Dr. Oz to lead CMS while HHS cuts; DOJ seeks death penalty for Mangione

April 4, 2025 | by

VA moving forward with the 2026 Oracle Cerner rollout of (lucky?) 13 centers. In March, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that the EHR Modernization (EHRM) for 2026 would be expanded to a total of 13 sites, adding nine to the four in Michigan announced in December. True to form, ‘later this year’ was less than one month later, yesterday. The additional nine are in Ohio (4), Indiana (3), Kentucky (1), and Alaska (1): 

Cincinnati VAMC-Fort Thomas (Fort Thomas, KY)
Chillicothe VAMC (Chillicothe, OH)
Cincinnati VAMC (Cincinnati, OH)
Dayton VAMC (Dayton, OH)
Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC (Cleveland, OH)
Fort Wayne VAMC (Fort Wayne, IN)
Marion VAMC (Marion, IN)
Richard L. Roudebush VAMC (Indianapolis, IN)
Alaska VA Healthcare System (Anchorage, AK)

The four locations in Michigan are VA Battle Creek Medical Center, VA Detroit Healthcare System, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, and VA Saginaw Healthcare System. This is almost two years after all installations replacing the venerable VistA were halted in April 2023, with the priority to fix the five troubled current deployments and the 2024 MHS joint installation at Lovell FHCC. This series is termed ‘market based’ with the locations relatively close to each other for greater efficiency, versus the earlier far-flung centers. In addition, “VA will adopt a standard baseline of products, workflows and integrations aligned with subject-matter-expert recommendations.” VA release, HealthcareDive

ATA Action acquires Digital Therapeutics Alliance (DTA), launches Advancing Digital Health Coalition. The advocacy arm of the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) will be combining with the DTA, a 501(c)(6) non-profit trade association with a mission of advancing digital therapeutics globally. The new organization will continue to take policy roles in advancing telehealth, ATA Action’s focus, but expanding into policies governing digital health tools in diagnostics, remote patient monitoring, and AI, leveraging DTA’s established relationships at the FDA and international regulatory agencies. Kyle Zebley will remain executive director of ATA Action. Andy Molnar, CEO of DTA, will transition to head of digital health at ATA Action. ATA Action is also launching the Advancing Digital Health Coalition, a membership non-profit which will extend the work of the DTA into advocacy for innovative digital health technologies transforming patient care, including digital therapeutics, prescription drug use related software (PDURS), and remote monitoring devices. Timeframe was not disclosed. ATA-DTA release, Advancing Digital Health Coalition release, FierceHealthcare, Healthcare IT News

Over at the Feds, Dr. Mehmet Oz was confirmed today (Thursday) by the US Senate to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The vote was 53 to 43.  Former TV personality and PA Senate candidate Dr. Oz, a cardiac surgeon, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, earning both an MD and an MBA from Wharton. He became a professor at the Columbia University – Vagelos College until 2022. The now-whitehaired Dr. Oz will be CMS Administrator over a downsizing organization, which will be 300 staff lighter and with a Congress that needs to find billions in savings. Within Health and Human Services (HHS), Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has presided over 10,000 in packaged out layoffs, with another 10,000 laid off this week for an ultimate 25% downsizing across all agencies to 62,000. Reports indicate confusion, which is sadly typical of mass layoffs for organizations of size. HealthcareDive, MedTech Dive 27 Mar, MedTechDive 3 April, HealthcareITNews

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) will seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione. The Federal murder charges brought in December have been increased by Attorney General Pam Bondi. She has directed Acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Matthew Podolsky, to seek the death penalty for this murder as an act of political violence, premeditated and threatening the public. Currently, the Federal government has a moratorium on executions which she has committed to reviving. The accused murderer of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, is currently incarcerated at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, facing first-degree murder as an act of terrorism charges brought by New York State. He and his attorney are requesting that Mangione have access to a laptop for reviewing case documents, an unprecedented privilege. Mangione also faces charges in Pennsylvania on gun and false identification charges from his flight from NYC. The DOJ will be waiting some time for Mangione, as the New York charges have precedence. New York has not yet set a trial date, which is certain to be a circus given his fan girls.  DOJ release, FierceHealthcare, NY Post

Breaking: suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s murder arrested in Pennsylvania, to be arraigned tonight (updated)

December 10, 2024 | by

The suspect in the assassination-style murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was arrested this morning (Monday 9 Dec). Luigi Mangione, aged 26, was located today at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, PA after an employee recognized him from wanted posters and media coverage. Altoona is a small city about 95 miles east of Pittsburgh.

One of the four fake IDs in his possession was used to check into an Upper West Side hostel. This was a fake NJ Motor Vehicle Commission driver’s license (Real ID!) with a false name and address in Maplewood NJ, a suburb of Newark near NYC. Police also found in his possession a ‘ghost gun’ with a suppressor that is consistent in appearance to the one used in the shooting. Updated: The gun was assembled from parts, possibly from a kit or separately purchased as replacement parts, with a 3D printed receiver. A receiver is the business components of a firearm–the firing pin, bolt, and breech block.

Mangione was due to be arraigned this evening at the courthouse in Altoona on gun charges. He will likely be extradited to Manhattan.

According to his LinkedIn profile (which is still up), Mangione was a University of Pennsylvania graduate with a six-year combined undergraduate and master’s degree in engineering, specializing in computer and information science. He is listed as currently employed at TrueCar, a car researching and dealer service, as a data engineer, but the Daily Mail reports that he left that position in February 2023 and suffered a spinal injury sometime last year. He was from Towson, Maryland and his LinkedIn profile had him living in Honolulu. The family owns and develops resort and golf club property in the Baltimore suburbs, operates the Lorien Health Services nursing homes, is in the travel business, and owns WCBM-AM, a 50,000 watt talk radio format station.

Luigi Mangione’s manifesto (not fully published) and social media postings reflect a distinct anger towards corporate America, according to the NYPD, and medicine and insurance companies as ‘parasites’, possibly personal because of the treatment of a sick relative. He also admired the writings of the murderous Unabomber, who terrorized individuals and academia for 20 years. The shell casings of ammunition found at the New York Hilton crime scene engraved with ‘delay’, ‘deny’ and ‘depose’ were the first indication that the shooter committed this murder in the name of a cause best known to him. New York Post updates, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  This story is, of course, developing.

Brian Thompson’s private funeral was today (Monday) in Minnesota.

Updated Tuesday: Mangione and his local attorney Tom Dickey are contesting extradition to New York. This was determined during his court hearing at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, PA, near Altoona. Mangione, the suspect in the murder of Brian Thompson, raged on the way into the hearing this morning but remained quiet once in court. The Manhattan district attorney will request extradition via a ‘Governor’s Warrant’ from NY Governor Kathy Hochul, which will be sent to PA Governor Josh Shapiro. This processing could take up to 45 days. In the meantime, Mangione will be held on the gun charge and the false IDs at a state prison in Huntington. Over $8,000 in cash was also found in his backpack when arrested, which he maintains was planted by police. The three-page handwritten ‘manifesto’ positions himself as a hero and scores the corruption and greed of “United” that “they continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allwed (sic) them to get away with it.”

The extent of Mangione’s back injury was severe. According to the landlord of the co-living space Mangione inhabited for six months in 2023, “his lower vertebrae were almost like a half-inch off, and I think it pinched a nerve.” A former high school classmate said he lost touch with his family and ‘went missing’ after back surgery did not go well earlier this year.

The McDonald’s employee who called Altoona police to check this particular guest eating hash browns has been threatened on social media.